British stage and screen star David Tennant will play the football coach of a legendary British team that suffered tragedy in the 1950's in the upcoming BBC drama "United," according to Variety.

Jeremy Piven

Tennant will play Jimmy Murphy, who coached the youngest team to win the English football (American soccer) league. Jack O'Connell and Sam Claflin will appear as Babes players Bobby Charlton and Duncan Edwards, respectively. Christopher Chibnall will write the film.

The team, known as the Busby Babes after their manager Sir Matt Busby, lost eight of their players in a 1958 plane crash in Munich. They were returning from a European Cup match against Belgrade.

Murphy, Tennant's character, was not in the plane crash but worked to hold the team together afterwards.

Tennant, best known for his appearances on the BBC's "Doctor Who," is a veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, having appeared there most recently in an acclaimed revival of Hamlet.